New Report: Haitain-American Detentions Rose 142% in 4 Ohio Jails Since TPS Ended
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Read the press release, with highlights and quotes
SPRINGFIELD - A new report from the Ohio Immigrant Alliance finds that the detention of Haitian-Americans in Ohio is up 142% at four immigration jails* since the end of Temporary Protected Status. Prior to August, Haitian women comprised 2% of the female population incarcerated for ICE in these jails; in August, they made up 39%.
Haitian-Americans in these Ohio ICE jails have a median age of 39 — six years older than the average — reflecting a community of established workers, parents, and respected elders being torn from lives they have built, families they take care of, and communities they serve. Many have pending asylum cases and valid work permits. None would be safe if forced to return to Haiti.
“Our report shows that the Trump administration is not arresting Haitian-Ohioans because they have to, but because they can,” said Lynn Tramonte, Executive Director of the Ohio Immigrant Alliance. “What the U.S. government is doing to Haitian-Americans is evil: forcing kind, courageous people into county jails and onto death planes. Everyone who stands by this policy cloaks our country in shame. Right now, that includes our Senators Moreno and Husted, unless and until they do the right thing and support S. 4814. Ending this nightmare is in these two Senators’ hands.”
In the press release that accompanies the new report, Springfield 937 ICE Watch points out that “only 8% of the Haitians being detained in Springfield have removal orders,” making them eligible for deportation. This is further proof that ICE is detaining people to send a message of cruelty and coercion — leave on your own, or you will go to jail.
Erik Crew, a Staff Attorney with Haitian Bridge Alliance, interviewed fifteen people at the Butler County Jail in August. All had been arrested by ICE in and around Springfield that month. “None had criminal records,” he said. “All entered the U.S. with its authorization, all had active and valid work authorization, and all had done everything the U.S. had asked. They are credible people who just want to work, pay their taxes, pay their bills, practice their faith, and take care of their families. This report confirms what I saw and heard, that they had been targeted as part of one of the largest de-documentation-and-mass-deportation campaigns in history — historically rooted, racist and xenophobic in nature — all while the local jails and their jurisdictions profit from the ongoing detentions, and all while the federal government is trying to figure out a way to return them to Haiti and all while they have a pending request for humanitarian protection.”
Read the press release, which further describes how the government’s ankle shackle policy is a core part of this strategy of cruelty; dismantles Secretary Mullin’s slate of lies when he came to Ohio to try to justify the policy, and contains a link to the full report, which uses the government’s own data to tell the truth about what the government is doing. The press release also includes provides additional quotes from local and national leaders.
“The American people deserve transparency, not propaganda. Our analysis uses government data to provide the credible accounting that federal agencies won’t give the taxpayers,” said John Drury, a researcher with Ohio Immigrant Alliance and author of the report.
*The jails covered in this report are Butler County Jail, Seneca County Jail, Mahoning County Jail, and Corrections Center of Northwest Ohio. Read the report to learn about the Methodology and access all of the data. Read the press release for additional context and quotes.
